(1) Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of fish meat-like flaky foods by using as the main raw material a granular vegetable protein which is available in abundance and is cheap in price.
(2) Description of the Prior Art:
Meats of fishes such as tuna, bonito, salmon and trout are used for food after cooking such as roasting or boiling or as slices of raw fish. Furthermore, boiled and oil-soaked meats of these fishes are marketed in large quantities in the form of canned foods. These canned foods are used for salad ingredients, sandwiches, spreads, fish coroquettes and ingredients of seasoned boiled rice, and the demands for these canned foods have recently been increasing.
Supplies of high-class fishes such as tuna, bonito, salmon and trout are recently insufficient because of catch limitations and the like. Accordingly, meat products of these fishes become expensive.
As means for compensating this disadvantage, trials have heretofore been made to obtain fish meat-like foods from cheap raw materials. For example, there can be mentioned a method in which a low-class fish such as sardine or mackerel is used as the raw material. In this method, since the size of the starting fish is small, the step of collecting fish meat is complicated, and meat of such fish is lean meat and has a strong smell and such low-class fish is not suitable as a substitute of high-class fish such as tuna, bonito, salmon or trout.
A method in which chicken meat is used for the production of a fish meat-like food has been examined. However, since the eating touch and flavor of chicken meat are different from those of fish meat, this method has hardly been actually worked.
Furthermore, use of a hydrate of a granular vegetable protein has once been tried. However, since the appearance, eating touch and flavor of such vegetable protein are different from those of fish meat, this trial has not practically been worked.